Asia Pulse: COLES MYER INTRODUCES NEW CUSTOMER LOYALTY LURE: “Customers that have the Coles Myer Source MasterCard will be able to receive a six cents per litre discount on fuel purchased at Shell petrol stations.” (ShellNews.net) 3 June 05

SYDNEY, June 3 Asia Pulse - Coles Myer Ltd (ASX:CML) has moved to strengthen its customer loyalty by introducing a fuel discount to its credit card.

Customers that have the Coles Myer Source MasterCard will be able to receive a six cents per litre discount on fuel purchased at Shell petrol stations.

That's higher than the four cents per litre ordinary customers get if they spend $30 or more at Coles supermarkets, including the Bi-Lo and Liquorland chains.

Coles Myer chief executive John Fletcher said the new feature would help Australian families save money.

"This card is a powerful example of how we have leveraged the strength of the Coles Myer Group to give our customers better value from their everyday shopping," Mr Fletcher said in a statement.

The new feature comes as Coles Myer continues to search for ways to increase the loyalty of its customers.

"Certainly one of Coles' strategies has been to expand their loyalty programs," said FW Holst analyst David Spry.

"With fuel, it's a bit of a carrot they can dangle around.

"I think probably they will continue to look at strategies for increasing their profile in the market."

Mr Spry also said the source card was one way that Coles Myer was trying to gain an edge over its major rival Woolworths (ASX:WOW) in their fuel war.

"Each of the major players are always trying to get an edge somewhere along the line," he said.

The Coles Myer source card was introduced in late 2003 as a way of boosting customer loyalty after the retailer's decision to phase out the popular shareholder discount card, which will finally end on July 31 this year.

ASIA PULSE

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